Nurses, Medical Staff, Patients, Clergy, and Commissioners Hold Healthcare Vigil at County In Advance of Key Votes - Commissioners to Vote on Patients’ Budget Amendment

Registered Nurses, medical staff, patients, clergy, and commissioners will hold a vigil before Tuesday’s Board vote on budget amendments. The vigil, called by the National Nurses Organizing Committee (NNOC), will call on Commissioners to approve the “patients’ budget,” sponsored by Commissioners Suffredin, Claypool, Maldonado, and Quigley.

WHAT:     Vigil and Press Conference featuring Registered Nurses, 
                medical staff, patients, clergy, and commissioners.
WHERE:   5th Floor County Building (118 North Clark Street)
WHEN:     Tuesday, November 27th, 2007, 9:30am

NNOC has introduced a “patients’ budget” in response to the President’s political budget. The patients’ budget has two components. The first component is a budget amendment, sponsored by Commissioners Suffredin, Claypool, Maldonado, and Quigley which rebuilds the Bureau’s primary care mission through the restoration of the 109 nursing positions requested by Medical Departments but rejected in the President’s proposed budget.

The patients’ budget begins the process of rebuilding County’s primary care clinic network by reversing the further cuts to nurse staffing in the Ambulatory clinics proposed in the President’s budget. This amendment would restore the 13 Nurse Practitioners (Advanced Practice Nurses) to the clinic network requested by medical departments but rejected in the President’s proposed budget.

Given Nurse Practitioners’ ability to bill at 85-100% of doctor’s rates, their restoration could generate a fiscal benefit of $18.9m for the Bureau – over two and a half times the cost of the entire budget amendment to restore the 109 nursing positions requested by medical departments. In addition, treating patients in a preventive, primary care setting will benefit the entire Bureau by avoiding expensive diversions to already overcrowded emergency rooms.

The second component of the patients’ budget addresses County’s credibility and fiscal deficits – which we see as one and the same. County has a credibility deficit with taxpayers and with many of the Commissioners that represent them. This credibility deficit is blocking meaningful progress on raising needed revenues at the County level. At the same time County has a credibility deficit with leaders in Washington and Springfield that help secure critical Medicaid and Medicare funds.

The solution to the Bureau’s fiscal crisis resides not just with County taxpayers and the Commissioners, but equally with political leadership at the state and federal levels. The Bureau of Health cannot survive without this support. The way to restore the credibility deficit was laid out by President Stroger’s own blue-ribbon committee two weeks ago. NNOC agrees with its recommendation for immediate trusteeship and it’s conclusion that County’s “crisis cannot wait for an evaluation and debate over alternative governance structures.”

NNOC/CNA/CNA is the nation’s largest union of direct-care RNs, with some 70,000 members in all 50 states.  Learn more at www.NNOC/CNA.net.